Javier- Robert Amaya
Nathan- Ken Bevel
David -Ben Davies
Shane- Kevin Downes
That list up there is the Fathers from the Kendrick Brother's new film Courageous.
I want to talk about each one. I believe that each of them learned a new lesson in fatherhood. In turn each man taught me a lesson about being a woman and -- when the time comes-- being a mom.
.
Adam: He seemed to take everything for granted and was set in his ways to be a good- enough father. Through a series of events he is humbled and literally bought to his knees before God. When he loses his beloved daughter, he is suddenly struck by a mix of emotions: Deep sadness that he will miss her milestones and regret that he did not dance with her the last time he saw her before she passed away. It was a tragic accident, but Adam learned that not all hope is lost and that he still a father to his son. He loved his little girl so much. He would always miss her. However he learned how to be a really good father by learning to lean on his faith and teach his son to do so too.
Adams story has taught me that to barely scrape by and in so doing, take everything for granted, is not a good idea. Adam learned that and so did I. Recently my phone was broken when trying to change out the screen. I was in hysterics for literally 24 hours. The following day I cried most of the morning. Then I went to work to pass down the information to my manager and found myself humbled before God in the Chapel of the church where I work. It was in that moment that I realized just how connected I was to my phone and how much it was controlling my life. I never saw it that way until this happened. I ended up spending $200 hard earned dollars to buy myself a new phone. I still haven't set up all my logins and I will probably take my time in doing so. To me it is now really important to have my phone for safety and to be in contact with important people.
Javier: Javier lives with his wife and two kids. One day Javier loses his job and is laid off. He is so discouraged and when he comes home his wife asks why he is home early. He tells her what happened. Naturally they were both upset but his wife said something that shook my faith. She said, we will find a way. She even offered to let him take the car so he can look for work. He said, How can I take the car and let my family walk. He couldn't do that. Their pure love and strong faith is what is going to get them through this current crisis. This is where Adam comes in. Javier is standing in the middle of the street, humbled before God in prayer when suddenly he hears a voice calling him by name. This is what sprouts a friendship between the two men. As the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding, Javier showed that he is a good worker. Adam happen to know a factory manager that needed a textile worker. Once again Javier has work but the manager decides to test him. Lie on a shipping report and get promoted. Javier knew what was at stake and decided to be honest. He ended up getting the promotion because of his faithfulness to God and his moral integrity.
I think we all know how Javier feels. We have all been there at some point in our lives. I have been through many jobs and I know what its like to have a very small salary. I am often discouraged by this because at the age of 28 I still have not moved out of my parents house. It is financially impossible. One thing after another tests my faith. I just keep praying. I was supposed to figure out my living arrangements this year but I got in a car accident just 7 days into the new year. I was in shambles. I had no job and no health insurance. My temp job just ended and I was so discouraged. I felt just like Javier. Well about a month later I got a job as a security guard. It paid better than my other jobs and I enjoy that kind of work. 7 months later I am paying my mother rent for my room in the house, and I am paying for my new car. I have come a long way. Things are still rough at work but I am worshiping while I wait for whatever is going to happen. This year has been the year of patience.
Nathan: Nathan is a the new guy on the police force. He is a real family man with a wife and three kids. He has a baby son, a middle son and a daughter named Jade. She is 13 and getting to the age where she likes boys. Her parents do not allow her to date until she is 17. As her father Nathan knows what he needs to do. The young man that is interested in Jade is clearly bad news and we later find out was in a gang for a time. In the meantime Nathan takes Jade to a nice restaurant and explains her worth. He explains that he wants the change to give her away when she wants to get married and that above all she should respect her self. He gives her a promise ring and she happily accepts that her father is showing her what a true gentleman looks like and that she should wait until marriage as a sign that she respects herself.
Nathans story is one that I wish I had. I wish my father was the kind of man to make sure that I respect myself. I wish he was the kind of father that would show his daughter how a man should treat her. Since he never did those things I had to discover my worth on my own. This is really hard to do. For many years I dated guy after guy. I learned what I like and don't like. An elder at my congregation has stepped up and taught me how I should be treated. He is a little older than my father but is filling in a gap that was missing for much of my young adult life. The elder never gave me a promise ring but he does tell me how proud he is of me as a young lady and how far I have come over the years. That means more than he will ever understand. I am in a serious courtship right now and I know that I value myself now more than I ever have. The guy I am dating is so respectful of me and has faith that will help build this relationship like no other boyfriend I have ever had. Maybe I am jumping a gun but that is how I currently feel.
David: David's story is so common in todays society. Do some stupid things in college and get a girl pregnant. David did all that. He even asked his girlfriend to get an abortion which she refused. For many years after that David refused to even acknowledge that he is a father to a little girl named Olivia. Even though he is not in a relationship with her mom anymore, David quickly understands that as a Father he needs to be there for his kid. Along with a financial contribution, David made a commitment to his daughter.
My best friend just went through all this a few years ago. Long story short, the father of her child never did what David did. She was left to raise her baby girl on her own. No one should have to do that and I am pretty sure that her daughters father will never step up. I have stepped up as her best friend through all of this and I plan to teach her daughter by example.
Lastly...Shane
Shane:Shane's story really saddened me. Shane has a son from a previous marriage and currently works for child support and gets to see his son every other weekend. During the course of the movie Shane is a police officer and seems to do really well when on the chase. He and his partners have caught many criminals and busted them with drugs. The evidence department often came up short for the amount of drugs that were deposited. Adam eventually catches on and decides to trap Shane in the lie that he was weaving. Shane may have been a good father but he really messed up. This situation was bad enough to land him in prison for a very long time. From behind plate glass, he begged Adam to to be a father figure to his son. Adam agreed.
I cannot fathom what that situation was like for all of Shane's family. I had a friend that was so addicted to drugs that he did not speak to his family for a very long time. I wrote him letters when he was in rehab. I tried to befriend him. All to no avail but his family never stopped praying for him. I could see that his parents were heartbroken but they released him to God. That was all that could be done.
That was my summary of Courageous. The story is amazing and it weaves together well. This is very similar to how God weaves our circumstances together for the greater good, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer. Ultimately I lean on a verse in the bible. Jeremiah 29:11-13
Melody out!
That list up there is the Fathers from the Kendrick Brother's new film Courageous.
I want to talk about each one. I believe that each of them learned a new lesson in fatherhood. In turn each man taught me a lesson about being a woman and -- when the time comes-- being a mom.
.
Adam: He seemed to take everything for granted and was set in his ways to be a good- enough father. Through a series of events he is humbled and literally bought to his knees before God. When he loses his beloved daughter, he is suddenly struck by a mix of emotions: Deep sadness that he will miss her milestones and regret that he did not dance with her the last time he saw her before she passed away. It was a tragic accident, but Adam learned that not all hope is lost and that he still a father to his son. He loved his little girl so much. He would always miss her. However he learned how to be a really good father by learning to lean on his faith and teach his son to do so too.
Adams story has taught me that to barely scrape by and in so doing, take everything for granted, is not a good idea. Adam learned that and so did I. Recently my phone was broken when trying to change out the screen. I was in hysterics for literally 24 hours. The following day I cried most of the morning. Then I went to work to pass down the information to my manager and found myself humbled before God in the Chapel of the church where I work. It was in that moment that I realized just how connected I was to my phone and how much it was controlling my life. I never saw it that way until this happened. I ended up spending $200 hard earned dollars to buy myself a new phone. I still haven't set up all my logins and I will probably take my time in doing so. To me it is now really important to have my phone for safety and to be in contact with important people.
Javier: Javier lives with his wife and two kids. One day Javier loses his job and is laid off. He is so discouraged and when he comes home his wife asks why he is home early. He tells her what happened. Naturally they were both upset but his wife said something that shook my faith. She said, we will find a way. She even offered to let him take the car so he can look for work. He said, How can I take the car and let my family walk. He couldn't do that. Their pure love and strong faith is what is going to get them through this current crisis. This is where Adam comes in. Javier is standing in the middle of the street, humbled before God in prayer when suddenly he hears a voice calling him by name. This is what sprouts a friendship between the two men. As the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding, Javier showed that he is a good worker. Adam happen to know a factory manager that needed a textile worker. Once again Javier has work but the manager decides to test him. Lie on a shipping report and get promoted. Javier knew what was at stake and decided to be honest. He ended up getting the promotion because of his faithfulness to God and his moral integrity.
I think we all know how Javier feels. We have all been there at some point in our lives. I have been through many jobs and I know what its like to have a very small salary. I am often discouraged by this because at the age of 28 I still have not moved out of my parents house. It is financially impossible. One thing after another tests my faith. I just keep praying. I was supposed to figure out my living arrangements this year but I got in a car accident just 7 days into the new year. I was in shambles. I had no job and no health insurance. My temp job just ended and I was so discouraged. I felt just like Javier. Well about a month later I got a job as a security guard. It paid better than my other jobs and I enjoy that kind of work. 7 months later I am paying my mother rent for my room in the house, and I am paying for my new car. I have come a long way. Things are still rough at work but I am worshiping while I wait for whatever is going to happen. This year has been the year of patience.
Nathan: Nathan is a the new guy on the police force. He is a real family man with a wife and three kids. He has a baby son, a middle son and a daughter named Jade. She is 13 and getting to the age where she likes boys. Her parents do not allow her to date until she is 17. As her father Nathan knows what he needs to do. The young man that is interested in Jade is clearly bad news and we later find out was in a gang for a time. In the meantime Nathan takes Jade to a nice restaurant and explains her worth. He explains that he wants the change to give her away when she wants to get married and that above all she should respect her self. He gives her a promise ring and she happily accepts that her father is showing her what a true gentleman looks like and that she should wait until marriage as a sign that she respects herself.
Nathans story is one that I wish I had. I wish my father was the kind of man to make sure that I respect myself. I wish he was the kind of father that would show his daughter how a man should treat her. Since he never did those things I had to discover my worth on my own. This is really hard to do. For many years I dated guy after guy. I learned what I like and don't like. An elder at my congregation has stepped up and taught me how I should be treated. He is a little older than my father but is filling in a gap that was missing for much of my young adult life. The elder never gave me a promise ring but he does tell me how proud he is of me as a young lady and how far I have come over the years. That means more than he will ever understand. I am in a serious courtship right now and I know that I value myself now more than I ever have. The guy I am dating is so respectful of me and has faith that will help build this relationship like no other boyfriend I have ever had. Maybe I am jumping a gun but that is how I currently feel.
David: David's story is so common in todays society. Do some stupid things in college and get a girl pregnant. David did all that. He even asked his girlfriend to get an abortion which she refused. For many years after that David refused to even acknowledge that he is a father to a little girl named Olivia. Even though he is not in a relationship with her mom anymore, David quickly understands that as a Father he needs to be there for his kid. Along with a financial contribution, David made a commitment to his daughter.
My best friend just went through all this a few years ago. Long story short, the father of her child never did what David did. She was left to raise her baby girl on her own. No one should have to do that and I am pretty sure that her daughters father will never step up. I have stepped up as her best friend through all of this and I plan to teach her daughter by example.
Lastly...Shane
Shane:Shane's story really saddened me. Shane has a son from a previous marriage and currently works for child support and gets to see his son every other weekend. During the course of the movie Shane is a police officer and seems to do really well when on the chase. He and his partners have caught many criminals and busted them with drugs. The evidence department often came up short for the amount of drugs that were deposited. Adam eventually catches on and decides to trap Shane in the lie that he was weaving. Shane may have been a good father but he really messed up. This situation was bad enough to land him in prison for a very long time. From behind plate glass, he begged Adam to to be a father figure to his son. Adam agreed.
I cannot fathom what that situation was like for all of Shane's family. I had a friend that was so addicted to drugs that he did not speak to his family for a very long time. I wrote him letters when he was in rehab. I tried to befriend him. All to no avail but his family never stopped praying for him. I could see that his parents were heartbroken but they released him to God. That was all that could be done.
That was my summary of Courageous. The story is amazing and it weaves together well. This is very similar to how God weaves our circumstances together for the greater good, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer. Ultimately I lean on a verse in the bible. Jeremiah 29:11-13
Melody out!
